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Saturday,
11 December 1999 At the Crashdown, Liz is euphoric and having a great day, Maria is not. Max and Michael come in. Michael doesn't want to be there because he and Maria broke up, at least he thinks they did, however he's not sure. The girls bring over some drinks, Liz says to Max "It's on the house" and Maria says to Michael "Yours is $1.25". That ends the confusion so Michael gets up to leave and accidentally spills his drink and knocks Max's books to the floor. When he picks up the books he finds a drawing Max made of the cave painting River Dog showed him. Michael wants to know what he's hiding from him. Later, Alex sees Maria sticking toothpicks into an alien doll and says "Anyone I know?" He still doesn't quite believe what he's learned about the aliens and asks Maria why she believes. She tells him Max, dissolving the bullet and healing Liz, made her a believer. So he decides to speak to Isabel to learn more. At home, Max tells Isabel and Michael that he drew the symbols from memory, based on what he saw on the cave wall. He didn't tell them about it because the FBI was following them and he was afraid Michael would do something rash. Max asks Michael to leave it alone for now, they'll talk more about it when he gets back, then leaves to take Liz out for Chinese food. Michael ignores Max and goes to the reservation, meets Eddie and tells him he's looking for River Dog. Eddie tells him River Dog is involved in a sacred ritual, a sweat, an "intense spiritual cleansing" and leads him to the tent. At the Crashdown, Alex asks Isabel to explain how they have human form and what their purpose is on Earth. Isabel responds "To wipe out the world, one annoying teenager at a time". She tells him they came out of the pods in human form, they have emotions, feel pain and have more questions about themselves then he does. They are just as human as he is except that they can manipulate the molecular structure of things and demonstrates it by changing ketchup in a bottle to mustard. She shows Alex the drawing Max made from the cave painting and tells him it's the closest connection they've ever had with their home. At the sweat, several Native Americans are chanting, sitting around a fire, shirtless. Eddie and Michael remove their shirts and sit in the circle. Eddie tells him not to talk, just follow the chant. River Dog drinks from a bowl and passes it around the circle for each participant to do likewise, including Michael. He throws something on the fire causing sparks to fly and Michael to have a coughing fit so severe he has to leave the tent. Eddie says "I told you it was intense" and Michael says "What the hell was that?" At the Chinese restaurant, Liz and Max play pool, have dinner and dance. Liz mentions her parents are on a camping trip to observe Venus in the morning sky. Max says "I thought she was right in front of me". They are about to kiss when Maria interrupts to bring them back to the Crashdown, where Michael is lying on the floor, his head in Isabel's lap. He looks feverish and Isabel is very concerned. In the back room of the Café, where Michael has recovered, he insists he's fine and he, Max, Isabel and Alex leave. Maria and Liz go up to Liz's bedroom and over ice cream, Liz admits to Maria that she and Max kissed the other night. Maria wants to compare notes and going first says "It was explosive. Like every cell in my body found the same cell in his and started heating up". Liz agrees and says she got dizzy and Maria says she gets dizzy just thinking about it. Liz says she didn't have any of those feelings with Kyle and Maria says "Doug Sohn in the 8th grade, amateur. Michael is the real thing". Liz wonders if they are feeling this way because of their non-human status and Maria wonders if they've ruined it for them with anyone else, especially since now, Michael wants no part of her life. Liz says he will change his mind but Maria doesn't think so and it's just as well because she doesn't think a human/alien relationship will ever work and warns Liz not to get too involved. She refers to herself as "Teflon" and says Michael can't hurt her but Liz and Max have the whole "look into my eyes, soul mate thing" so she's more concerned for her. Sunday, 12 December 1999 The next day, Alex shows Isabel an exhibit at the UFO Centre that has symbols similar to the ones she showed him last night. Isabel dismisses it as a hoax. Alex commits a faux pas by mentioning her home planet within hearing of others, causing Milton to berate him for joking about his beloved UFOs and Isabel to berate him for being so careless. There is a commotion elsewhere in the Centre. Isabel, Alex, Max and Milton all rush over. Michael is on the floor, burning up, shivering and asking for Max. Max kneels down and sees that Michael's eyes have turned completely white. He puts sunglasses on him, explains to Milton that it's just a migraine and he, Isabel and Alex bring Michael to the Crashdown, through the back. Maria asks what's wrong with him and Isabel says they don't know, nothing like this has ever happened before. They take him up to Liz's bedroom. His temperature is 112°. Maria gets ice and towels to cool him down. Michael starts to chant then says "River Dog". Max and Liz go to the reservation. Eddie tells them River Dog is angry at them for telling someone what they found there, that River Dog tested him and he failed the test. Max wants to know what River Dog did to Michael. He says "I want answers before my friend dies". Eddie tells them he's is not there so they decide to wait for him. Max tells Liz about how they all met in the desert the night they came out of the pods. He and Isabel met first; they communicated without speaking and they felt Michael's presence. Michael was afraid to approach them at first so he just watched. When he revealed himself, he was standing on a rock "Just like you'd expect from Michael - here I am, deal with me". He told them that trusting them was the hardest thing he ever had to do. They all saw the headlights; Isabel took Max's hand and Max held out his other to Michael but he wouldn't take it. They didn't see him again for three years. Max wonders if what's happening to Michael could ever happen to him. "What if it's just our life cycle. That maybe this is how we die". At Liz's, Isabel and Maria argue about Michael's care and Isabel screams at Maria and Alex to leave; that Michael needs her, not strangers. Later, Maria brings her something to eat, with a bottle of Tabasco sauce, and tells Isabel she cares about Michael too. Michael goes into convulsions and Isabel tells Maria to get Alex. When the convulsions stop they give him some water and Michael starts having a vision. It's daytime; he's standing in the desert and the symbols from the cave painting are all around him in the sand. He looks up into a night sky and sees a V shaped constellation. He looks down and it's daytime again. He is standing on a rock, looking down into a crevice and sees a body covered in cobwebs. At the reservation, River Dog comes up to Max and Liz and tells them to bring Michael there as they may not have much time. They go back to Liz's and discover that Michael's body is covered in cobwebs. At the cave, Michael has been placed in the centre of a circle and the five of them are directed to stand at the end of each line that leads to the centre. River Dog tells them about the man who referred to himself as a visitor, which in River Dog's language is Nasedo, so that's what he called him. He participated in a sweat and his reaction was the same as Michael's only much quicker, which is why River Dog thought Michael was not another visitor. River Dog, who was only a boy, followed Nasedo to the cave and found him dying. Nasedo had to trust him with his secret so that River Dog could heal him. River Dog gives each of them a crystal like stone and tells them the stones are from Nasedo's home and they carry an energy inside them, the same as in Nasedo's body "He called it The Balance" and that the heat from the sweat disrupted it in some way. Nasedo told him to hold the stones until his own energy activated them and the balance would be restored but warned him there was a risk. "The balance can pull you in; it's a force that can change both your body and your mind unless you navigate it properly". He tells them to clear their minds and gives them a bowl of water that they each should drink from to begin the connection. When he reaches Liz he tells her he senses her fear, not of the healing, but for someone she cares for deeply. River Dog asks her to step back. He starts the chant and they all join in. The stones start to glow. Michael has a vision. He's in the desert, standing in the centre of a circle with 5 spokes. At the end of each spoke are his friends. Alex steps forward and shakes his hand, Maria kisses him, Isabel hugs him, Max approaches, sees Liz enter the circle and smiles. Michael is on the rock looking at the body in cobwebs and sees that it's himself. Then it's Isabel and Max on the rock looking down at him. They all switch back and forth between being 16 and 6. Max reaches out his hand towards Michael, who breaks the webbing apart and reaches up. Their hands meet and Max pulls him up. The three of them walk off, hand-in-hand. The vision ends and Michael breaks free from the webbing and says "I went someplace, Max and I saw things". Isabel hugs him. He thanks Max and says "No more running, no matter what". He asks them all to give him the stones, goes to the cave painting and places the stones in holes in the wall. The stones light up and display the same V formation as the constellation. He says "It's a map". Max visits Liz on her balcony and tells her that he can't keep pretending that he's normal and says "We don't belong together". Liz is devastated. He says "Ever since we kissed, I've been off balance". He tells her they need to take a step back to find their balance again. Liz kisses him goodbye. |
